Tyler ISD denounces Biden’s new Title IX regulations
Posted/updated on: June 21, 2024 at 3:35 pm
TYLER — Tyler ISD denounced the new Title IX regulations imposed by President Joe Biden that expands protections for LGBTQ+ students during Tuesday’s school board meeting according to our news partner KETK. During the meeting, the school board said they aim at protecting the rights of female students and rejected Biden’s new regulations that “attack the fundamental fabric of Title IX protections for daughters, wives and mothers by transforming traditionally private or single-sex settings into unsafe spaces for biological women.”
Title IX, a regulation imposed by the U.S. Department of Education, aims to protect people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The new regulation to be enacted on Aug. 1, would mandate that schools cannot discriminate against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Tyler ISD said “the district believes in protecting girls and women’s rights in the authentic biological form in our schools, in athletic and other interscholastic competitions and in the use of facilities such as locker rooms and restrooms.”
By rejecting the new regulations, district officials said the federal government would penalize public schools by defunding certain program including free or reduced lunches.
“We think that that’s very harmful to our student body, 80% of our students participate in free and reduced lunch,” Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford said.
Tyler ISD Board of Trustees reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining a safe and secure educational environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence.
“Title IX is crucial to safeguard against discrimination but these updates from the White House are not a step forward but rather a misstep that complicates athletics and undermines the idea of fairness and equality that Title IX was originally designed to protect,” District 5 Board Trustee Aaron Martinez said.
U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, who represents District 1, spoke to Congress in April claiming the new regulations are an attack on women’s sports. Moran said that East Texans feel the new rules are “an inexcusable federal assault towards girls and women that has no place in schools.”
